1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an integrated circuit card and a plastic card having multiple application capabilities for customer use.
2. Reported Developments
The prior art provides mechanical/electrical systems and processes to load multiple applications from multiple card service providers onto cards and chip card. Those cards may be credit cards, stored value cards, phone cards, transportation cards, health care cards and the like. Typically, magnetic stripe cards and/or imprinted plastic cards contain two applications, whereas more applications may exist on chip cards. The goals of card issuing companies are to penetrate the market of card users with their services by offering their services in conjunction with other card service providers. A bank may issue a service on a card combined with a service of an airline company and telecommunication company in order to share the same customer base. A department store may provide its services on a card in conjunction with a hotel chain and the like.
As a result of the industry trying to penetrate the market with a variety of services, households get bombarded with junk mail offering cards with different services from multiple card service providers, whereby the response from customers is very little. Most of the services are unattractive because the card service providers do not have sufficient information about the customers. Some cards may have the wrong combination of services and therefore become worthless for the customers. Due to a high penetration of cards in the market card issuers face more difficulties to offer new card services.
At the same time the industry is introducing cards with imbedded semiconductors--chip cards which have the capability of offering more services on one card. This approach may reduces the number of cards used by a customer, but it creates other logistic problems including:
offering and managing the cross relationship of multiple application requirements and those of the card service providers; PA1 issuing a flexible combination of services on one card that can coexist and avoid that card service providers infringe each other's interest; and PA1 issuing different card and data storage technologies on one card to ensure a coexistence of multiple services. PA1 a gateway apparatus comprising a host computer capable of managing multiple tasks and having multiple communication ports to connect via communication lines with other computers of card requesters and card service providers; PA1 a database contained in the gateway apparatus for storing services of card service providers; PA1 a database contained in the gateway apparatus for storing card requester related information; PA1 a remote computer of a multiple application card requester electronically connected to said gateway apparatus for inputting a request to said gateway apparatus; PA1 one or more remote computers of card service providers electronically connected to said gateway apparatus for inputting their offer of services: PA1 inputting offers of services by multiple card service providers to a gateway apparatus, wherein said gateway apparatus comprises a host computer capable of managing multiple tasks and having multiple communication ports to connect with other remote computers of card service providers having communication lines to said host computer; PA1 inputting on a remote computer to a gateway apparatus a request by a requester of the multiple application card for issuance of said card; wherein said gateway apparatus is capable of simulating multiple applications on cards, presents services of multiple card service providers in a menu from which the card requester selects desired services offered by the multiple card service providers; PA1 receiving the card requester's selection of services; PA1 combining and optimizing card related production and personalization data of one or more applications from multiple card service providers to provide services together on one card; PA1 visually simulating and presenting the card to the card requester on the computer screen of the card requester allowing the card requester to add and remove desired services thereafter; PA1 generating an output file with all card related production and personalization data; PA1 issuing a confirmation number to the card requester to confirm his requests; PA1 storing the output file with the related confirmation number in a database; and PA1 transmitting the output file to a card manufacturer, card manufacturing apparatus or self service terminal to produce a card.
It appears that the market has only inadequate solutions and systems to the above problems whereby this invention introduces a system and new method of issuing multiple application cards.